Method, transmitter and receiver for spread-spectrum digital communication by golay complementary sequence modulation

ABSTRACT

The frequency spectrum of a transmission system is spread in the transmitter (I) by information bit encoding by means of Golay complementary sequence pairs. The spectrum is picked up in the receiver (2) and passed through a filter that is adapted to the characteristics of said frequencies enabling detection of digital levels corresponding to the transmitted original information. If η pairs of orthogonal sequences, A amplitudes for data modulation and N-PSK modulation are used, it is possible to obtain transmission speed (C) which equals formula (I), wherein B is the null-to-null bandwidth used in Hertz. This makes it possible to improve quality in comparison with other digital communication systems using spread-spectrum techniques and CDMA. A process gain independent of transmission speed is obtained.

FIELD OF THE ART

[0001] The present invention refers to the modulation and demodulation method as well as the transmitter and receiver which makes it possible to transmit and receive data by means of any transmission means, particularly when it is necessary or preferable to use spread spectrum techniques.

STATE OF THE ART

[0002] The spread spectrum concept was developed for use in military communications due to its immunity features towards noise and interference. Its principle is based on the use of certain binary sequences having certain features similar to noise and which, however, a receiver which knows said sequence is capable to detect as a signal. In the same manner the compression of impulses by means of binary sequences is useful also in RADAR, SONAR and echography applications since it allows to improve the resolution of the detected objects. However, in recent years its use has become widespread in space applications and civil communications such as mobile telephony, DS-CDMA (Direct Sequence Code-Division Multiple-Access), radio telephone access loops, Internet access, wireless local area networks, deep space communications, etc. All of which are based on digital modulation by means of using of sequences which are suitable for this type of applications due to their autocorrelation and cross-correlation features are suitable for this kind of applications. Therefore, international organisations (IEEE, UIT, etc.), have begun normalising and standardising modulation systems which facilitates the use of certain sequences to modulate the transmitted binary data and thus obtain characteristics which makes it possible to use, among others, certain frequencies reserved for industrial, scientific and medical applications (ISM bands) and whose use and exploitation do not require any kind of administrative license. The need to send as much information as possible with the same bandwidth has made the telecommunications industry to develop commercial applications which use the IEEE 802.11 standard for the transmission of information by radio in local networks obtaining increasingly higher speeds by means of the use of binary sequences such as the 11-bit Barker (to obtain a minimum processing gain of 10.4 dB) or 5-bit Walsh, and different modulation techniques (BPSK, QPSK, MBOK, QMBOK, etc.) which makes it possible to attain transmission speeds of up to 11 Mbps. This standard makes it possible to work within three frequency bands with a null-to-null bandwidth of 22 MHz, in the so-called 2.4 GHz band.

[0003] Likewise, reliable transmission methods are needed for the so-called deep space communications between spaceships and the bases on Earth, allowing a big processing gain due to the need to limit the emission power of the ship's transmission equipment, and due to the reduced signal to noise ratio of said signals when they are received.

[0004] In the present applications (FIG. 1) the length of the coding sequence (Barker, PM, Walsh, etc., . . . ) determines both the processing gain and the bandwidth used. Generally, the transmission speed will be reduced if we attempt to increase the processing gain, which is why a compromise between the two parameters must always be found. The transmission speed may be increased by increasing the number of modulation phases, however, the restrictions of this technique increase with the decrease in the signal to noise ratio during reception.

[0005] Based on the above it can be deduced that there is a need for a spread spectrum digital modulation technique which on the one hand makes it possible to increase transmission speed and on the other to obtain a bigger processing gain to make it possible to reduce the needed transmission power or improve the signal to noise ratio during reception, and at the same time to reduce the complexity of the present modulation tables.

[0006] No patent or utility model whatsoever is known whose features are the object of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The present invention uses pairs of Golay complementary sequences for the modulation by means of spread spectrum and DS-CDMA of the amplitude modulated binary data in combination with an N-PSK modulation widely used in digital communication systems.

[0008] The main property of the sequences used in this invention is that in contrast to the Barker sequences, which have side lobes, the Golay sequences are characterised by an ideal autocorrelation, that is, they correspond to a perfect Krönecker delta so that they meet: ${{C_{A}\lbrack n\rbrack} + {C_{A}\lbrack n\rbrack}} = \left\{ \begin{matrix} {{2M},} & {n = 0} \\ {0,} & {n\quad 0} \end{matrix} \right.$

[0009] where C_(A) and C_(n) are the individual autocorrelations of the A and B sequences of the pair of selected Golay complementary sequences, M lenght; and whose values belong to the bivalued set (1,−1).

[0010] The generation of such sequences is based on the so-called kemel basics of 2, 10 and 26 bits, known hitherto (the rules of Golay sequence generation are discussed in the article called “Complementary Sequences” by M. J. E. Golay, published in IRE Transactions on Information Theory, vol. IT-7, pp. 82-87, April 1961).

[0011] The communication system object of the present invention makes it possible to establish a physical end-to-end or end-to-multipoint connection at a transmission rate, which will depend on the employed means and on the available bandwidth and on the acceptable error rate.

[0012] It consists of two pieces of equipment or devices: One is a transmitter and the other one is a receiver.

[0013] The transmitter equipment is used to perform the following tasks:

[0014] Receive the data and generate the symbols corresponding to each group of (m) bits as a function of the Golay sequence number ( ) of the selected length (M), number of amplitudes (A) per symbol, number of phases (N) used for the modulation and processing gain needed to comply with the quality requirements of the system.

[0015] Carry out the adding up of the different phases to form an N-PSK modulation and thus generating the transmission signal.

[0016] Transmit the composite signal to the transmitter means for example by means of an RF stage and antenna.

[0017] The receiver equipment is used to perform the following operations:

[0018] Demodulate the N-PSK information and extract the components of each of the different phases.

[0019] Adapt, filter and correlate the extracted components with their corresponding complementary pairs or Golay.

[0020] Sum up the correlations and thus obtain the original data stream as digital levels.

[0021] Perform the level decoding to obtain the original data.

[0022] The first advantage of this method is that of being able to obtain as big a processing gain as one wishes, independently, as will be seen later, of the transmission rate, and only by increasing the length of the selected Golay sequences, for which reason high transmission power is not needed to obtain a high signal to noise ration during reception. The processing gain (in decibel) in this case is defined as:

GP=10log ₁₀(2M)dB.  (1.1)

[0023] where M corresponds to the length of the Golay sequences used in the modulation. This feature is very important in applications where a low transmission power is desired(portable terminals, space ships and communication satellites), the communication is performed over great distances (deep space transmissions), and even military applications in which the interferences caused by the enemy or the need to encrypt the transmission determine the security and quality of the communication.

[0024] Furthermore, this method makes it possible to transmit simultaneous information flows in the same frequency bands over the channel by means of using different low cross-correlation Golay sequences, thus facilitating the creation of communication subnet works within a same band, or to multiply the transmission rate by a factor proportional to

[0025] Likewise, it is possible to increase the transmission rate even more if a prior amplitude modulation of the entry data by means of A amplitudes is performed.

[0026] Therefore, from the aforementioned it can be deduced that the transmission speed, or capacity (C), that can be obtained in a spread spectrum communication system using this method will be:

C=·log ₂ A·(½)·log ₂ N·(B/2)bits/sec.  (1.2)

[0027] where B (Hertz) is the null-to-null bandwidth used, N is the number of phases used in the modulation (power of 4), A is the number of amplitudes used in the binary data encoding and is the number of pairs of Golay complementary sequences used. In the previous expression it is observed that C is independent of M.

[0028] Therefore, the described invention constitutes a powerful communication system for use in spread spectrum applications, DS-CDMA, hostile environments, when restrictions on the transmission power exists, or simply when there is a wish to improve the quality of the communication without a transmission rate degradation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029]FIG. 1 shows the present basic transmission technique of a spread spectrum system and particularly using an 11-bit Barker sequence, which by means of a exclusive OR function performs the spreading of the spectrum of the original data signal. It is seen that the bit frequency is 11 times lower to the one used for the Barker sequence, which makes it possible to obtain a processing gain of 10 ·log10 (11) 10.4 dB.

[0030]FIG. 2 shows the basic outline of the transmission method and a possible implementation of the transmitter which uses this method for N=4. The binary data (1) enter the emitter in groups of xm bits. Each i group of m bits multiply with sign (3) by both Golay sequences A and B (2) corresponding to the BMB i number. The result of both multipliers independently accumulates in each of the phases, and in each element, within the displacement register (4) and moves towards the right to wait for the next symbol.

[0031] The output values of the shift register of each BMB are summed (5) and the result is phase and quadrature modulated by means of the product with, for example, a sine and cosine symbol (6). The result is sent to a conventional transmission stage (7).

[0032]FIG. 3 shows a basic outline of the reception method and particularly an example of a receiver using this method for N=4. Both phases are reduced by a 4-PSK demodulation obtaining one in-phase signal and another in quadrature (1). The obtained analogue in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) signals are quantified and introduced into all the BDBs and the result of both is correlated with the corresponding original sequences (2), the sum (3) of both flows will provide us with an amplitude coded signal corresponding to the data of each subgroup of m original bits which are demodulated. A multiplexer block (4) manages the decoding and arrangement of the bits to recover the original data flow.

[0033]FIG. 4 corresponds to a possible embodiment of the modulation. For the sake of simplification only the embodiment of phase 1 is shown. Phase Q is identical but modulating with the complementary sequence. Therefore, only one of the Golay registers (1), one of the accumulators and shift registers (2) and one multiplier (3) is shown.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0034] A possible embodiment of this method applied to a end-to-end open-air radio communication system is shown below. For reasons of clarity the implementation in the case of a QPSK transmitter (N=4) is outlined in FIG. 2, performing data modulation using Golay sequences, amplitude modulated by means of A amplitudes. Therefore, by applying the formula (1.2), the transmission rate will be:

C=·log ₂ A·(B/2)bits/sec.  (1.3)

[0035] In accordance with what has been explained above, the starting point is a set of pairs of Golay sequences of M bits generated and stored in the transmitter by means of, generally, 2× binary registers (values 1 and −1) which we aim to amplitude modulate with A amplitudes and with 4 Q PSK phases (4-PSK). In the same FIG. 2 one of the basic modulator blocks (BMB) of which the transmitter consists is shown in detail.

[0036] The transmitter performs the following operations where R is the transmission rate in symbols:

[0037] (1) Encoder: The NRZ digital data received at xmxR bits/sec. arrive encoded and are grouped in groups of m=log₂A bits. Each BMB processes in parallel a group of m bits, so that the system will transmit xm bits per symbol. The bit with the highest weight of each group corresponds to the sign, and the m−1 of less weight, to the module.

[0038] (2) Golay register: Formed by two binary registers of M length which store the pair of A and B complementary sequences whose values belong to the set (1, −1), which will modulate the data processed by the corresponding BMB.

[0039] (3) Multiplier: Consists of two multipliers with sign (highest weight bit) of the pair of A and B Golay sequences of the BMB with the arithmetic value of the corresponding group within the set of groups of the input symbol.

[0040] (4) Double accumulator and shift register: Perform the arithmetic summing of the result of the multipliers with the content of the double shift register (the upper path with A and the inner path with B) and shifts a register to the right for each symbol cycle, updating the register, located furthest to the left of the same, to the value of zero. The shift register is formed by basic elements which store signal values, and therefore, the number ( ) of bits used in each basic element of said register, must be dimensioned to avoid overflow during the accumulation operations. Thus, the number of elements in the shift register must be equal to or higher than M for each of the paths A and B.

[0041] (5) Adder: Independently sums up the data corresponding to the output of each shift register of each of the BMBs thus obtaining the total I_(T) and Q_(T) signals which are afterwards modulated.

[0042] (6) QPSK modulator: Modulates the output signals from the adder by multiplying the exit signals of the adders by two quadrature symbols, for example, a sinusoidal symbol with phase φ₀ (via I_(T)) and another quadrature Φ0−π/2 (via Q_(T)), and adding the result of both phases, thus obtaining the transmission signal in QPSK.

[0043] (7) Exit stage: Consists of a D/A converter stage and a conventional radio frequency stage, for example, sending the signal to the transmission means.

[0044]FIG. 3 shows an example outline of a receiver for N=4, which is formed by basic demodulator blocks (BDB) detailed in the same figure, and the structure of the receiver which consists of the following blocks:

[0045] (1) QPSK receiver; Amplifies the RF input signal and if necessary converts the signal to an intermediate frequency (IF), obtains the phase information and makes it possible to demodulate and recover the different flows in-phase I and cuadrature Q corresponding to the phases Φ₀ and Φ0−π/2. The I and Q signals are digitised and their output passed on to the correlator blocks. This block is common for all the BDBs.

[0046] (2) Golay correlators: Makes it possible to correlate the different flows received with their corresponding Golay sequences. Given that the sequences are normalised between +1 and −1, the correlation is reduced to performing adding and subtraction.

[0047] (3) Adder and detector: Performs the adding up of the correlations, two and two, so that the result are the original amplitude modulated data. These are thresholded and converted into binary data generated at the symbol rate at the output of each block.

[0048] (4) Decoder: Performs the grouping of the groups received within the data stream, corresponding to the transmitted data in the order in which they were transmitted at xmxR bits/sec.

[0049] Both devices together make up the transmission system. 

1. Method for spread spectrum digital communication by Golay complementary sequence modulation, which allow the transmission of information through a communication channel, as well as the encoding of modulated binary data and its spread spectrum in amplitude using Golay complementary sequences modulated in N-PSK.
 2. Method for spread spectrum digital communication by Golay complementary sequence modulation according to claim 1, which allows the transmission of information through a communication channel, comprising the generation of η binary Golay sequences with low cross-correlation, which encodes the entry data, which in turn are amplitude modulated by means of A amplitudes.
 3. Transmititter according to claim 2, characterised by the generator of the binary sequences for spread spectrum applications which uses Golay complementary sequences and the same with changed sign to represent and send at least one bit of information per symbol interval.
 4. Transmitter according to claim 2, characterised by the generator of the binary sequences for spread spectrum applications which uses Golay complementary sequences and adds them unchanged or with changed sign and position, displaced within the transmission symbol.
 5. Transmitter according to claim 2, characterised by the generator of the binary sequences for spread spectrum applications able to multiply Golay complementary sequences modulated by A amplitude values, which represent the digital input, making it possible to multiply the quantity of information bits per symbol interval by m=log₂A.
 6. Transmitter according to claim 2, characterized by the ability of the generator of the binary Sequences for spread spectrum applications to generate a processing gain in decibels equal to: 10log₁₀(2M) dB, where M is the length of the selected Golay sequences.
 7. Transmitter according to claims 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, characterised by the use of a double accumulator and shift register, made up of elements which accumulate and displace the pattern of sequences generated in order to obtain the different phases.
 8. Transmitter according to claims 2, 3, 4, 5 6 and 7 characterised by the use of an adder which adds all the elements generated in the previous phases, be they all together, or in any combination, and obtains the signals which are subsequently modulated by means of the N-PSK modulation and sent to the transmission medium by means of a conventional radio frequency stage.
 9. A modulation method according to claims 3-8 using Golay sequences “MSG” or “(GCM” i.e. Golay Code Modulation, characterised by the use of any combination of the transmitters described in 3-8 to modulate and transmit the information of a data flow at a transmission rate of C=η·log₂A·½·log₂N·B/2; bits/second, where η is the number of Golay pairs used, A is the number of amplitudes used to modulate the input data, N (power of 4) is the number of phases used in the modulation and R is the null-to-null bandwidth used in the N-PSK modulation.
 10. A method to generate the modulation by means of Golay sequences, comprising: (a) The amplitude modulation with A amplitudes of the binary input data grouped in η groups of m=log₂A bits, which are introduced into η basic modulator blocks—BMB. (b) Storing of the η pairs of Golay complementary sequences, of length M, in binary registers of length M the values of which are comprised within the range of 1 and −1. (c) The product with sign of each group of m bits, whose sign corresponds to the heaviest bit and whose module is the remaining m−1 bits, for each one of the Golay complementary sequences of length M corresponding to the said group, which will form two I and Q phases of M length elements. (d) The accumulation, element by element, of the first actual M values contained in a double shift register of length M with the corresponding M elements of the products of each of the phases obtained in the previous stage. (e) Displacement of the said registers in a basic element towards the M element of said registers—output—adding the value zero in the basic elements of first order of the double register. (f) The sum of the η values obtained at the output of the I and Q phases of each of one the BMBs independently in order to obtain the total I_(T) and Q_(T) phases. (g) The modulation of both I_(T) and Q_(T) phases by means of quadrature symbols and the, sum of both to obtain the transmission signal, (h) The means for transmitting the obtained signal to a transmission means.
 11. Method for spread spectrum digital communication by Golay complementary sequence modulation according to claim 1, 2, 9 and 10 characterised by the fact that the receiver which receives the information bits through a channel of communication encoded as described in claims 9 and 10 and is carried out on the basis of an N-PSK reception, coherent or non-coherent, which extracts the corresponding phases, and is made up of filters adapted to the Golay transmission sequences (correlators or convolutioners) and their sum, as well as the means to set up and analyse the output of the said filters adapted to detect the polarity and amplitude of the impulses, and the means to decode the said amplitudes to data bits.
 12. Method for spread spectrum digital communication by Golay complementary sequence modulation according to claims 2, 9 and 10, characterised by the fact that the demodulation occurs on the basis on the basis of an N-PSK reception, coherent or non-coherent, which extracts the specific phases and performs the correlation with the corresponding η sequences per phase, adding them and obtaining the binary data flow transmitted at origin by means of amplitude detection.
 13. Method for spread spectrum digital communication by Golay complementary sequence modulation according to claim 12, characterised by the following elements; (a) The necessary means to adapt and synchronise the signal received and to demodulate the quadrature phases which make up the said signal and the insertion of all these into each one of the η basic demodulator blocks—“BDB”. (b) The filtration by means of correlation, convolution or filter adapted to the η pairs of Golay complementary sequences of the various recovered phases. (c) The η sums of the results of every two correlations corresponding to the same pair of Golay complementary sequences to obtain an information stream, modulated in amplitude with A amplitudes. (d) The means for demodulating e the η modulated flows in amplitude to obtain η groups of m=log₂A bits. (e) The means to multiplex said groups to form the original data flow. 